Cardinals 1943, 1950, 2006, 2002, 1920

I wanted either the 1943 or 1944. I was waiting until one got taken, then I was taking the other. When thejuice6 grabbed 1944 as the tenth Cardinals season taken, I jumped on the 1943 Cardinals (I selected before footballmm11). I knew their winning% would mean that I would pick low in the draft, but ironically, 1944 and 1943 had the exact same winning% .682, but since 1944 went off the board first, I got to draft ahead of juice in rounds 1, 2 4. This season has more than 5 usable players. I could only use three of their pitchers, Mort Cooper (2.50), Howie Pollet (1.69) and Harry Brecheen (2.10). I couldn't fit in Harry Gumpert (2.56) or Al Brazle (2.56) because I needed Walker Cooper (.318, .351, .482) to play catcher and of course, I wanted Stan Musial (.357, .428, .581) to play OF.

Picking 10th, I don't think my selection of the 1950 Cardinals was very smart. Sure, I get Jim Hearn (1.69) to provide me endless frustration. And I use my clone on another Stan Musial (.346, .433, .587), who has to play 1B (he's A/B at 1B and D+/D- in the OF). The Cardinals have a ton of great 1B options, didn't need to use one here. There are no other useful pitchers from 1950 and the other hitters I rostered, 3B Tommy Glaviano (.285, .417, .437) and C Joe Garagiola (.318, .384, .468) are backups. Bill Howerton (281, .371 .482) is a part-time OF and pinch hitter. I essentially used my first round pick for 2 players and used up my clone option right away. What a waste. I could have had 1927 Frankie Frisch and Jim Bottomley, etc., which I considered (1927 went two picks later to DarthDurron). This pick was the downfall of this team.

I do believe my 2006 Cardinals pick may have saved this team from losing 95+ games. I get a good Chris Carpenter (2.55) season. Adam Wainwirght (2.70) and Josh Kinney (2.22) provide some bullpen pieces. But I also add two starting batters, 3B Scott Rolen (.296, .366, .495) and Albert Pujols (.331, .428, .650). Of course, Pujols will have to play out of position (OF), because I wasted a pick on a 1B-only Musial last pick.

My next pick, 2002 Cardinals, was made hastily and I was going to delete it and re-pick but footballmm11 posted his pick almost immediately, so I was stuck. See, when I researched 2002, I saw all the talent and couldn't believe they were still available Besides getting Jason Isringhausen's (1.55) best season. I also saw a bunch of great hitting options, including Jim Edmonds (.311, .419, .547), Albert Pujols and Scott Rolen. Guess what! I already f*cking rostered 2006 versions of Pujols and Rolen. So, this season wasn't a great fit for me. I ended up adding pitchers Mike Crudale (2.30) and Woody Williams (2.54). And also added a poor defensive shortstop, Edgar Renteria (.305, .363, .425). My Cardinals team is screwed.

I still needed another SP and a 2B, plus a few PAs at catcher. There were some mediocre seasons of Bob Gibson, but none came with a decent hitting 2B. So since my team is going to suck anyway, let's have some fun. I selected the 1920 Cardinals, and added a terrible SP Bill Doak (3.31) who will have to be in the rotation. But I get to use Rogers Hornsby (.370, .435, .572). Verne Clemens (.281, .343, .368) will get a few starts at catcher. Doc Laven (.289, .321, .387, A+) may get some play at SS while Jack Smith (.332, .389, .458) is a pinch hitter.

Outlook:
What a disaster. Considering I used my first two seasons to get four key pitchers (Cooper, Pollet, Brecheen, Hearn), I think my pitching staff is below average, maybe one of the worse staffs in the league. The defense is generally good, so maybe that will help. The offense should crush though with Cooper, Musial, Hornsby, Rolen, Renteria, Musial, Pujols, Edmonds. Unless six other Cardinals owners screwed up their teams, I estimate this team will advance only 30% of the time.

Indians 1968, 1923, 1907, 1950, 2019

I was thrilled to get the 1968 Indians with the 11th Indians season taken. Not only do I get a stud Luis Tiant (1.77), but the .534 winning% nets me the 5th pick in the draft. 1968 also gets me a two more solid SPs in Sam McDowell (2.50) and Sonny Siebert (2.80). Vicente Romo (1.72) is my team's best RP. And the only hitter worth rostering is catcher, Duke Sims (.249, .383, 421). Off to a great start.

With four pitchers already rostered, I wanted to get some offense. The 1923 Indians gets me 734 PA of an awesome Tris Speaker (.380, .457, .607). Shortstop, Joe Sewell (.353, .444, .476) can't really field (D+/C+) but he sure can hit. Charlie Jamieson (.345, .410, .444) has 786 PA and will play 162 games in the OF. Frank Brower (.285, .380, .506) will play a little bit of 1B. Riggs Stephenson (.319, .346, .472) has 347 PA and can play 2B, 3B and OF and is good defense at all three positions. A solid pick. So much better than my stupid 1950 Cardinals pick in round 1.

There is still a good Joss season left, so I grab the 1907 Naps. Addie Joss (2.32) has 361 innings and average over 8 innings per game, so my starting rotation is set. Have you ever heard of pitcher Charles Carl "Heinie" Berger (2.61)? Neither have I, but he's now on the roster. My 2B is Nap LaJoie (.299, .359, .431), although he will split time with Riggs Stephenson. OF Elmer Flick (.302, .401, .450) has a 131 OPS+ and will battle Jamieson for a starting role. Jay Clarke (.369, .347, .409) will platoon at catcher with Sims.

I've filled a bunch of spots with my first three seasons, so I don't need much with my last two. The 1950 Indians fill holes at 3B, Al Rosen (.287, .391, 533) and OF, Larry Doby (.326, .427, .534). Luke Easter (.280, .358, .476) will share time at 1B with Brower. Steve Gromek (2.56) has 120 innings and is the perfect long-reliever. Early Wynn (2.80) is nothing more than an innings-eater.

Although I have enough innings, I need more warm bodies out of the bullpen. The 2019 Indians provide me with three pitchers: Shane Bieber (2.72) is a bit HR-prone but can pitch long relief or spot start against a team that isn't full of power hitters. Mike Clevinger (2.22) and Tyler Clippard (1.96) qualify as warm bodies. Francisco Lindor (.284, .339, .489) will be my defensive replacement at SS for Sewell. Also, I'm not convinced Brower and Easter will perform at 1B, so I added one more 1B, switch-hitter Carlos Santana (.281, .400, .485).

Outlook:
I have a bunch of teams that are going to suck and probably won't advance to round. But I do think this team is good enough to advance. I don't see a lot of weaknesses, Solid defense, good pitching, good hitting. I set the [probability of advancing = 70%.

Pirates 1920, 1908, 2014, 1969, 1926

I missed out on the dominating 1901, 1902 and 1903 seasons. But one of the advantages of picking the last (i.e., 12th) Pirates season is that I can find a team that gets me an early draft pick. I really wanted to draft 1905 or 1908 (their win% are too high, which is why I didn't select them with my initial season), and both seasons are available so I needed to make sure I selected a season that netted me the first or second pick of the draft. I had 1928 penciled in, but their .559 win% would results in pick #3. So instead, I went with the 1920 Pirates and their .513 win% gets me pick #2. Of course, I get a stud Babe Adams (2.16) with this selection. I also roster Wilbur Cooper (2.69) and Elmer Ponder (2.68) giving my 828 innings of quality dead-ball pitching. I also add defensive wizard Max Carey (.289, .373, .361, A+) and part-time OF Fred Nicholson (.360, .407, .544). Great start.

And with the 2nd pick, I can select the 1908 Pirates. redcped had the first pick and went with 1925. I was thrilled to get a stud season of Honus Wagner (.354, .431, .583). I also add four more pitchers, with Vic Willis (2.33), Howie Camnitz (2.63), Irv Young (2.76) and Harley Young (2.91). Considering how poorly my other drafts went, I was very happy with how this draft has started.

I have over 1500 innings of dead-ball pitching, plus a stud SS. It's time to get some offense. The 2014 Pirates actually provide 3 starting position players, including OF Andrew McCutcheon (.314, .420, .542), 2B Neil Walker (.271, .351, .467, A/B+) and C Russell Martin (.290, .411, .430). Josh Harrison (.315, .355, .490) will split time at 3B with a player not yet selected. Reliever Mark Melancon (1.62) will be the team's closer. RP Tony Watson (2.62) didn't make the cut. Everything is falling into place.

I have two more picks with only redcped picking in between. My pitching is pretty much set, but I'd like to upgrade the offense. The 1969 Pirates provides me with a stud Roberto Clemente (.345, .416, .551), and a pretty good Willie Stargell (.397, .387, .563). Carl Taylor (.348, .437, .464) is a part-time player who will play 1B and OF and pinch hit. I add a little pitching depth with Joe Gibbon (2.68) and Lou Marone (2.31). This is becoming my favorite team.

With the last pick, I don't really *need* much, so by selecting the 1926 Pirates, I'm basically just upgrading the offense and providing some depth. The prize of 1926 is Paul Waner (.336, .407, .526). George Granthom (.318, .395, .488) can share time with Stargell at 1B. Pie Traynor (.317, .356, .434) will platoon with Josh Harrison at 3B. Earl Smith (.346, .398, 437) will platoon with Russell Martin at catcher. And Kiki Cuyler (.321, .375, .458) can start at OF and/or play defense in the late innings.

Outlook:
Maybe the Pirates just have more talent than other franchises, but I really like everything about this team. The defense is good, the hitting is very good and the pitching is decent. I have a lot of hitting and pitching depth as well. I would be shocked if they performed poorly. I give this team a 90% chance of advancing to round 2.

Giants Causeway
New York / San Francisco Giants
Giants Causeway is a geological formation consisting of basalt columns (often vaguely hexagonal) that rise out of the ground along the coast of County Antrim, Northern Ireland. There are similar formations across the water in Scotland, which gave birth to the legend from which it derives its name. The legend, as I recall being told on my visit there: There was once an Irish giant named Finn MacCool, who had a beef with some Scottish giant whose name escapes me. Finn MacCool decided to build a bridge between Antrim and Scotland so he could go and beat up the Scottish giant. All of that bridge building was hard work, so after the bridge’s completion but before picking the fight he decided to go home and take a nap. Meanwhile, the Scottish giant saw that the bridge had been built, figured out who did it and why, and decided to steal a march on Finn MacCool and catch him figuratively (or literally) napping. The Scottish giant crossed the bridge and burst into Finn MacCool’s house, where he was sleeping and his wife was awake. The Scottish giant yelled “Is that the giant Finn MacCool?!?!?!” Thinking quickly, Mrs. MacCool replied “Oh no, that’s just my wee baby.” Well, the Scottish dude thought to himself “if that’s the baby, I’m not sticking around to fight the father” and ran back to Scotland, wrecking the bridge as he went.

1908 New York Giants
When I was researching which two teams I would choose first, all of the best Barry Bonds years had already been taken so I decided that 1904 would be the best Giants team remaining. However, they were guaranteed to have the last pick in the draft, so I decided to go in a different direction and wait to see if they were still available 24 hours hence. They were not, so I went with the 1908 version, which also had good pitching and which I hoped would yield a mid-range draft slot. Unfortunately 10^th is not mid-range. Oh well. Christy Mathewson (411 IP, 1.74 ERC#) should help ease the pain of that. Hooks Wiltse (348, 2.58) isn’t a bad addition to a pitching staff, and this team also yielded a starting catcher, Roger Bresnahan (.296/.418/.397, B/B+/B-), and two nice bench pieces in poor fielding utility man / pinch hitter extraordinaire Buck Herzog (.313/.465/.401) and OF Mike Donlin (.348/.380/.493).

1927 New York Giants
It turns out that 10 picks is a long time to wait. In the interim, two additional really good Bonds seasons were taken, as were most of the other good pitchers. With 759 IP already on the staff, I decided to focus on offense here. The biggest prize was obviously the one season when Rogers Hornsby (.350/.443/.584, B-/B-) played for the Giants. However, this team also has a nice SS Travis Jackson (544 PA, .307/.357/.484, C+/A+), OF George Harper (.320/.430/.493, B-/C), who frankly I don’t know is better than Donlin but I’ll give them equal time until I figure it out. I’ll also start 1B Bill Terry (.315/.372/ .527, B+/A+), which is a bit of a disappointment as I was hoping that I’d end up with a better 1B later in the draft but that never happened. Finally, Doc Farrell (.376/.437/.533) gives me another scintillating utility man / pinch hitter, but this time one who can actually kinda sorta field.

2009 San Francisco Giants
Another round, another good Bonds off the board. Having eschewed pitching with my previous pick, I felt I needed to add some here. I also needed a starting third baseman. Enter the 2009 Giants to fill both needs with Tim Lincecum (225, 2.05) and Kung Fu Panda (.332/.386/.542, B/D). This team also contributed the only useful relievers I’d end up drafting on this entire team in Brad Penny (42, 2.14 but 0.88 HR/9#), Bob Howry (64, 2.46), and Mr. Beach Boy himself Brian Wilson (72, 2.51).

1936 New York Giants
So now what? I needed another 250 good innings and 1 or 2 more outfielders, with room for improvement elsewhere such as 1B. I was extremely surprised and delighted to find the 1936 Giants still available. I’m pretty sure I seriously considered them as early as two picks prior to this, thanks to the inclusion of Carl Hubbell (320, 2.19) and OF Mel Ott (.319/.444/.586, B+/D+). They also provide useful bench pieces in OF Jimmy Ripple (.297/.361/.438, B/A-), SS Dick Bartell (B-/A+) and backup C Gus Mancuso (.292/.347/.403, C/C/A-).

1958 San Francisco Giants
By the time I made my previous pick I pretty much knew that there would be a bunch of really good Willie Mays seasons available with my final pick. I was hoping that one would come with a significant upgrade for me at 1B, but none of them did. So, instead of choosing the “best” or most expensive Mays, I went with the one that best fit my team. My lineup needed a leadoff hitter, so I chose 1958 Willie Mays (721 PA, .347/.419/.572, C+/A+, 31/37 SB). The Say Hey Kid combines with “Daddy Wags” Leon Wagner (.317/.371/.522) to form a truly potent nickname duo. Stu Miller (192, 2.80) will be my Long A, while Gordon Jones and Johnny Antonelli will hopefully only appear in the lowest leverage of innings.

Summary (Projected top-used 5450 PA, 1400 IP)
Offense: .326/.410/.526
Pitching: 2.14 ERC#
Defense: Solid. A+ range for CF, SS, 1B; fielding all C+ or higher.

I don’t know quite how to feel about this team. My gut feeling is that I really like it, but the lack of quantity or quality in the bullpen could very well be a problem. It’s kind of a shame, because this team will always have 4 guys on the bench who can absolutely rake, but I’ll probably be conservative about pinch-hitting for my primary pitchers because they’re so much better than my relievers. Furthermore, my lefty-righty platoon busting tandem concept won’t work here because in terms of IP it makes more sense to pair the two righties together and the two lefties together. If I can make it to the postseason and drop Wiltse from the rotation this team could be formidable, but given the amount of talent that exists throughout Giants history I have no idea whether that’s a realistic goal.

Cubs 1905, 1935, 1963, 1911, 1979

I was the last person to select his initial Cubs season. The lowest win% among the other eleven seasons was .481. I considered taking a team with a lower% so I could get first pick, then I would take either 1908 or the team I ended up selecting with my initial choice, the 1905 Cubs. I found a couple of viable seasons that had a couple of decent players, but nothing really jumped out at me. The 1905 selection was good for the 7th pick in the draft. Of course, the key to the Cubs teams is to fill up most of the pitching staff with one season. This year gives me pitchers Ed Reulbach (2.02), Bob Wicker (2.35) Mordecai Brown (2.42) and Carl Lundgren (2.69). That's 942 innings and 10 HRs allowed. I will not be rostering Sammy Sosa. I also get a nice 1B in Frank Chance (.316, .457, .461).

Now we switch to offense. Normalization be damned, let's go with the 1935 Cubs. Catcher Gabby Hartnett (.344, .403, 540) isn't too HR-dependent (32 doubles and only 13 HRs in 485 PA). I also get a switch-hitting good defensive OF with Augie Galan (.314, .398, .463). 3B Stan Hack (.311, .405, 431) is another high-on-base lefty bat. 2B Billy Herman (.341, .381, .471, A++ range) is my fourth starting batter from this team. I didn't need Chuck Klein (.293, .354, .484). I ended up keeping Billy Jurges for his defense (B/A+) at shortstop. So my first two seasons net me almost 1000 innings and 50% of a starting lineup. Not too bad..

One could argue the wisdom of my next pick. I mentioned I didn't want Sammy Sosa, but I selected the 1963 Cubs because I do kind of like Billy Williams (.286, .370, .507). Ron Santo (.297, .351, 491) will platoon with Stan Hack. Merritt Ranew (.338, .392, .471) fills in the missing PAs at catcher. But this season also provides two SPs, Dick Ellsworth (2.23) and Larry Jackson (2.85). I'm already at 1500 innings with two picks to go. Even though there is a plethora of deadball pitching, this season just seemed to valuable to pass up even though it didn't fill my SS and RP needs. I can use some of my 1905 guys to pitch in long relief.

I keep trying to bolster the offense without adding HR-dependent players. One of my favorite hitters that does well in the sim is from the 1911 Cubs. I love OF Frank Schulte (.300, .381, .548). Who doesn't love a guy with 30-21-21 doubles-triples-homers? Oh, and 21 HRs from 1911 will translate very well. OF Jimmy Sheckard (.276, .431, .401) gives me a great leadoff hitter and my center-fielder. I was not able to get a decent hitting shortstop, so Joe Tinker (.278, ..324, .403, A+ range) will start. This season also provides me with a couple of short-inning (<50 IP) pitchers who should be decent, Charlie Smith (2.04) and Orlie Weaver (2.23). I love this selection. I am free-rolling with my last pick because I really don't *need* anything.

I did search for a potential shortstop upgrade, but all the available shortstops that could hit couldn't field, and the last thing I want is a shortstop who is going to make 50 errors behind my dead-ball pitching staff. So I went with the one good player and selected the 1979 Cubs just to get 102 innings of Bruce Sutter (1.63). His better 1977 season went one pick before me (to BeAllEndAll). So what else does 1979 do for my team? Ivan DeJesus (.283, .347, .378) gives me another backup SS so I can pinch hit for my SS twice. Swith-hitter Steve Ontiveros (.285, .364, .369) gives me a third 3B. His defense is poor, so he won't ever start, but might pinch hit. And Mike Vail (.335, .382, .518) is just a pinch hitter. Dick Tidrow (2.90) will pitch mopup. Note that if you did a batters query on my five seasons (all positions) and sorted by OPS#, the highest ranked player did not make my team. He's got a .957 OPS# and 135 OPS+. Without looking, can you guess who it is? I decided that he would never start and I prefer other pinch hitters over him.

Outlook
I feel pretty good about this team. Other than shortstop, I like my hitters, and think my offense will be able to score against the other Cubs dead-ball pitchers. If I do face a guy like Fergie Jenkins, Billy Williams, Ron Santo and Frank Schulte have a little HR-pop. The Cubs batters historically have been mostly right-handed. My normal lineup will start four lefties and one switch hitter. Probability of advancing = 80%.

Ernie Banks?

I'm guessing Dave Kingman, who had a monster '79 but wouldn't be very useful against deadballers.

Braves

Rd 1 - 2020 - I selected my team later in the draft after most of the others had already drafted. So I could tell that everyone was going for the high win % Maddux teams of the 90's. And to be honest, I probably should have done the same. This is one franchise, where I don't think it pays to go for value. That being said, 2020 is not inherently a bad pick. They had a .583 win % which was good enough for the 4th pick in the next round. I get studs pitchers like Max Fried (2.33) and Chris Martin (0.84). And some stud hitters such as Freddie Freeman (.341/.462/.640), Marcell Ozuna (.338/.431/.636) and Acuna (.250/.406/.581). There were some really good RPs that I had to leave off such as Darren O'Day (1.48) and Ian Anderson (1.93). I almost left Martin off because I had Dansby Swanson slotted as my starting SS. I mean, he's the 2nd most expensive SS in the Braves database. Number 1 is 2005 Furcal, who i ended up drafting later on. Grade A

Rd 2 - 2001 - The problem with my first pick is that I still badly need starting pitching. I look through the deadball teams and 1915-1917 are gone. Same with 94-2000. All that is left are some non-peak Maddux years and some Spahn and a lesser Sain or similar pitcher. I really felt that my best choice was 2001 which netted me Maddux (2.55) and Burkett (2.70) who are far cries from peak 90's Braves pitching rotations. Round it off with Karsay (2.23), Chipper Jones (.330/.427/.605 but C/D-) and a scrub and I'm coming away disappointed. I intended to use Smoltz when he was a relief pitcher here (2.70), but he didn't make the cut. I would have preferred to get a great pitching team with my 1st pick as my pitching will be one of the weakest in the league. So now my first pick does not look so great to me. Grade D

Rd 3 - 2005 - I still have lots of needs in the infield, SP and RP. This picks gives me a bit of everything so it seems to fit well Smoltz as a SP (2.69), Kyle Farnsworth (2.02), Marcus Giles (.291/.365/.461) who is relatively good in a shallow 2B category, and Rafael Furcal (.284/.348/.429) who supplants Swanson at SS, allowing me to roster Chris Martin. A solid pick. Grade B

Rd 4 - 1962 - Need a catcher, OF and P still so this picks gives me a bit of everything. Joe Torre (.282/.355/.395) and Del Crandall (.297/.348/.417) are a "good as any" defensive tandem but will bat 8th in the lineup. Hank Aaron can and will play CF (.323/.390/.618). Don McMahon is solid in the pen (2.38) and I had intended to use Warren Spahn (2.86) but he was my last cut. Instead, I used OF Lou Johnson (.282/.349/.453) as he was the 4th outfielder I needed since Acuna was only at 545 PA. I've also notably left Eddie Matthews (.265/.381/.496) off the roster since Chipper Jones is better. Grade C

Rd 5 - 1981 - Biggest needs are SP and RP. Ideally I wanted both, but the pickins' were pretty thin at this point. Best I could find was 1981 which included Larry McWilliams (58 IP, 2.39) who is going to be my 5th starter, Al Hrabosky (52 IP, 1.84), Gene Garber (90 IP, 2.37), and Rick Camp (117 IP, 2.57). This is a weak pick and doesn't really fill all of the holes. I'm trying my best to bolster my pitching staff, but there's no pick here that will do it. So I'm falling short. I'm at 1439 IP which *should* be enough, but is getting dangerously close. Grade D

My pitchers are weaker than my hitters are strong. So I don't think I'll finish above .500. I would not be surprised if this team lost 95 games. Grade D

Senators 1928, 2020, 1917, 1976, 1974

As the last person to take a Twins/Senators team, I really should have spent more time researching. I selected 1928 Senators because their .487 winning% would net my the #3 pick in the draft. They basically have two useful players, pitcher Garland Braxton (2.01) and outfielder Goose Goslin (.379, .435, .607). I could have instead taken 1910 (.437) to get a stud Walter Johnson and picked first instead of third (3dayrotation drafted 1910 with his first pick and now has two Walter Johnsons leading his staff). With respect to this 1928 teams, I also ended up keeping Ossie Bluege (.297, .356, .392) to play 3B. Pitchers Sam Jones (3.05) and Bobby Burke (3.01) will have to pitch.

I though about grabbing one of the remaining good Walter Johnson seasons here, or even 1924 or 1925 b/c those teams have some nice offensive pieces I now wish I had. But there was a year that was screaming to get selected and that is the 2020 Twins, with five really good pitching pieces. This is a classic footballmm11 type of pick, and he was picking 2 spots after me. I don't typically use my first round pick on just RPs, but Kenta Maeda (1.40) has 180 innings and will probably be my main setup guy. I ended up adding four RPs (all with IP/G > 1), including Tyler Duffy (1.36), Tyler Clippard (1.66), Caleb Thielbar (1.95) and Cody Stashak (2.12). That's a solid 410 innings.

This is the round that I really messed up. I should have taken 1970 for the offense they bring. I briefly looked at them and probably would have grabbed them if the last Walter Johnson season wasn't still sitting there, unclaimed. But instead, I went with the 1917 Senators, solely to get Walter Johnson (2.12). It turns out that due to not being able to upgrade, I also am starting OFs, Sam Rice (.328, .371, .431) and Clyde Milan (.294, .370, .364). Those are fine players, for an $80M salary cap league. I added 1B Joe Judge (.285, .375, .448) b/c I wasn't sure what I'd end up with. At worst, he can pinch hit. Outfielder Mike Menosky (.258, .365, .398) will come in for defense. So nobody thought this Walter Johnson was worth a pick for two full rounds mainly due to the supporting cast, yet I am planning on starting 2-3 of these guys. Ugh.

I still needed a starting C, 1B, 2B, SS and OF plus at least one more SP. That's a lot to ask. The 1976 Twins do give me a bunch of pieces. Rod Carew (.331, .399, .474) is an upgrade over Joe Judge at 1B. Lyman Bostock (.323, .368, .442) will play some OF. I was a Twins fan when I was a kid and was devastated when he was shot and killed in Gary, Indiana. Rest in Peace Lyman. Butch Wynegar (.260, .361, .374) has always been a staple of my low-cap rosters. Can we switch this league to an $80M cap? And shortstop Roy Smalley (.259, .360, .334) gives me two switch-hitters in the lineup. RP Tom Johnson (2.59) is a fine addition.

I only had to wait four picks before I could finish this terrible offensive team. I hadn't used my clone yet, so why not clone the Twins all-time best hitter, so I chose 1974 Twins, in order to use another Rod Carew (.364, .436, .452) - this time he's playing 2B. The other big name 1974 brings is SP, Bert "Be Home" Blyleven (2.76). Who doesn't love those old Chris Berman baseball nicknames? The other 1974 pieces are quite useless, including Glen Borgmann, Sergio Ferrer and Eric Soderholm. They are so useless, I'm not even going to bold them and turn them blue.

Outlook
Well, I might win some games 2-1 or 1-0 when Walter pitches and Maeda closes it out. But I expect we'll lose a bunch of games 6-1 or 7-2 when bums like Sam Jones pitches. I did see that my team ended up with the second lowest salary, so maybe they can win a weak division. Oh wait, 3dayrotation and his two Walter Johnsons are in the same division. Never mind. Probability of advancing is 20%.

Posted by barracuda3 on 2/6/2024 4:47:00 PM (view original):
I'm guessing Dave Kingman, who had a monster '79 but wouldn't be very useful against deadballers.

Correct. D/D- fielding. A poor OBP.

Whew - finished writing up all 16 drafts. Each writeup easily took over an hour, but I found it useful, because it forced me to go over my roster with a fine tooth comb, and in some cases, I made some changes during the writeup, when I realized that I either inadvertently left somebody off that should have been on or else I determined that I didn't need a player and upgraded somewhere else.

I added up all the "Probabilities of Advancing" and it totaled 8.3, which means based on my very precise and 100% accurate predictions, I should get roughly 8 teams to advance. Of course, the maximum teams that are allowed to advance is eight, but some of my teams are so bad, that I might actually get fewer than eight.

Cubs

Rd 1 - 1952 - Cubs and Dodgers are my last 2 picks so I already knew where most of the teams were in terms of win %. Most of the deadball Brown/Pfeister/Ruelbach teams were gone. There were some Jack Taylors available but I got burned on Taylor in the last juice round so I didn't want to go in that direction. I had to do something "different". So i did a bunch of research and was really trying to find a 4-5 good players on a "bad" team. I landed here and got Hank Sauer (.270/.361/.531), Bob Rush (2.63), Warren Hacker (2.10) and Willie Ramsdell (2.06) and Bill Serena (.274/.345/.469, 458 PA) but I ended up using a scrub instead. A .500 win % netted me the 3rd pick in the next round, so that had better pay off because the only guy on this team worth a darn is Hacker. Grade D

Rd 2 - 1945 - This is the best pick of the 5 that I make. Cavarretta (.355/.449/.500), Pafko (.298/.361/.455), Passeau (2.53), Hack (.323/.420/.405) and Prim (2.12). Hack, Prim and Cavarretta are standouts, but the others are below-average at best. Worth punting the first pick to get a high pick? No. Grade B

Rd 3 - 1923 - Pete Alexander (2.57) is average. Jigger Statz (.319/.375/.440) can be my CF for now but certainly I can find better later, what can go wrong? Bob O'Farrell (.319/.408/.471) is not a name that rolls off the tongue, but he's got an A+ arm. Charlie Hollocher (.342/.410/.423) is good but he's only got 315 PA. I had intended to use a partial season of Gabby Harnett but he didn't make the cut and used a scrub instead. Grade D

Rd 4 - 2018 - i still have lots of needs. I have a partial 2B, a partial SS, 2 outfielders I'd like to upgrade and no bullpen. That's a lot to cover so no teams will cover all of that, so I need to do this with my last 2 picks. I go bullpen first Chavez (1.48), Strop (2.07), Cishek (2.40), Morrow (2.51) and finally a guy who can play both 2B and SS Javier Baez (.290/.326/.554). Not typically the kind of guy I want since he has a low obp and won't hit HR with all the deadballers in the league. His defense is shaky at SS (C+/C-) but I can do a 3 man rotation between the 2 positions of Baez/Hollocher/Serena. The problem with the bullpen I just drafted is that those four guys only account for 198 innings. So I still need more pitching. I didn't think this one out very well. Grade D

Rd 5 - 2019 - I still have so many needs. More bullpen, an upgrade at OF or even an upgrade at SS or 2B. A great season of Ernie Banks, Sammy Sosa, and Ryne Sandberg were all available. But none of them had any good teammates and it'd leave too many holes. I'm screwed. The best choice I had was going one season ahead and grabbing another Baez that can actually play SS (.281/.316/.531), a partial season of Nicholas Castellanos (.321/.356/.646) because the full season was not better than Jigger Statz, Ian Happ (.264/.333/.564, 156 PA), Brandon Kintzler (2.45, 57 IP) and Rowan Wick (2.08, 33 IP). These are just spare parts and in retrospect, maybe I should have just upgraded one position and not gone this way. Grade F

Think of the Cubs and all of their great players: 3 Finger Brown, Tinker, Evers, Chance, Ruelbach, Pfeister, Wilson, Hartnett, Warneke, Root, Banks, Santo, Williams, Jenkins, Sandberg, Sosa, Arrieta, Bryant....I HAVE NONE OF THOSE GUYS. What an absolute dumpster fire this team is. I cloned Javy Baez?? Jigger Statz is my starting CF? 123 years of Cubs history and this is what I put together?? Grade F

Dodgers

Rd 1 - 1930 - I had time to research this since this was my last pick. Certainly the pitching-heavy Dodger teams of the past 20 years went quick and rightfully so. Maybe people weren't searching under the name "Robins" because I think this team is a steal :). Babe Herman (.393/.455/.678), Johnny Frederick (.334/.383/.524, A/A+), Glenn Wright (.321/.360/.543, 6th most expensive SS in draft), Dazzy Vance (2.40) and an intention to use Del Bissonette but he was dropped when I upgraded later on. Lastly a .558 win % netted me the 3rd pick in the next round. Grade A

Rd 2 - 2022 - The pitching was too good to pass up here and I needed loads of it. Urias (2.35, 175 IP), Kershaw (2.00, 126 IP, Phillips (1.21, 63 IP), and Gonsolin (1.69, 130 IP). Freddie Freeman upgrades over Bissonette (.325/.407/.511). They don't have gaudy IP #, but they do have gaudy ERC#s. Grade A

Rd 3 1997 - I had been eyeing Piazza (.362/.431/.638) for a while. For the best offensive catcher to drop to the 3rd round is well....offensive. So I felt I had to take him. Not too worried about deadball pitchers suppressing HR totals because the Dodgers were terrible in those years. He didn't come with much, Raul Mondesi (.310/.360/.541) is ok. Antonio Osuna (2.33) is alright. I intended to take a mediocre Eric Young and Ismael Valdez here, but i was able to upgrade them later, so I swapped them out with 2 scrubs. Grade B

Rd 4 - 2009 - I need a SS and a 2B. This is where the deja vu hits again since I took this exact squad in the 4th round juice league for the same reasons. Orlando Hudson (.283/.357/.417, A-/A+) and Casey Blake (.280/.363/.468, A/A) are those guys. Excellent relievers Broxton (1.58, 76 IP), Vargas (1.88, 42 IP) and Sherrill (2.32, 69 IP) and I get to clone Kershaw (2.49, 171 IP) as my 5th starter as I'll need them all. Grade B

Rd 5 - 1983 - I do need some more IP and perhaps an upgrade in the OF. I find the IP, but not the OF. Niedenfuer (1.50, 95 IP), Howe (1.78, 69 IP), Alejandro Pena (2.55, 177 IP) will be my Long A. I need to use Pedro Guerrero (.298/.373/.531, D+/C) here because Casey Blake doesn't have a full season of PA, and I don't have a good backup to fill in. Sure, I could have used both Guerrero and Blake, but it'd be a bit wasteful. So even though Pedro is a slight downgrade, I take him over Blake. He is a better hitter, but a worse defender. Grade B

This team *feels* good. But I know that the Dodgers and Yankees are the two deepest pools so I have to temper my enthusiasm. The pitching is strong, especially the bullpen. I have some very good offensive pieces like Piazza and Herman. I have defensive pieces like Hudson and Frederick. There is reason for optimism. Grade B

Posted by toysboys on 2/6/2024 6:01:00 PM (view original):
Cubs

Rd 1 - 1952 - Cubs and Dodgers are my last 2 picks so I already knew where most of the teams were in terms of win %. Most of the deadball Brown/Pfeister/Ruelbach teams were gone. There were some Jack Taylors available but I got burned on Taylor in the last juice round so I didn't want to go in that direction. I had to do something "different". So i did a bunch of research and was really trying to find a 4-5 good players on a "bad" team. I landed here and got Hank Sauer (.270/.361/.531), Bob Rush (2.63), Warren Hacker (2.10) and Willie Ramsdell (2.06) and Bill Serena (.274/.345/.469, 458 PA) but I ended up using a scrub instead. A .500 win % netted me the 3rd pick in the next round, so that had better pay off because the only guy on this team worth a darn is Hacker. Grade D

Rd 2 - 1945 - This is the best pick of the 5 that I make. Cavarretta (.355/.449/.500), Pafko (.298/.361/.455), Passeau (2.53), Hack (.323/.420/.405) and Prim (2.12). Hack, Prim and Cavarretta are standouts, but the others are below-average at best. Worth punting the first pick to get a high pick? No. Grade B

Rd 3 - 1923 - Pete Alexander (2.57) is average. Jigger Statz (.319/.375/.440) can be my CF for now but certainly I can find better later, what can go wrong? Bob O'Farrell (.319/.408/.471) is not a name that rolls off the tongue, but he's got an A+ arm. Charlie Hollocher (.342/.410/.423) is good but he's only got 315 PA. I had intended to use a partial season of Gabby Harnett but he didn't make the cut and used a scrub instead. Grade D

Rd 4 - 2018 - i still have lots of needs. I have a partial 2B, a partial SS, 2 outfielders I'd like to upgrade and no bullpen. That's a lot to cover so no teams will cover all of that, so I need to do this with my last 2 picks. I go bullpen first Chavez (1.48), Strop (2.07), Cishek (2.40), Morrow (2.51) and finally a guy who can play both 2B and SS Javier Baez (.290/.326/.554). Not typically the kind of guy I want since he has a low obp and won't hit HR with all the deadballers in the league. His defense is shaky at SS (C+/C-) but I can do a 3 man rotation between the 2 positions of Baez/Hollocher/Serena. The problem with the bullpen I just drafted is that those four guys only account for 198 innings. So I still need more pitching. I didn't think this one out very well. Grade D

Rd 5 - 2019 - I still have so many needs. More bullpen, an upgrade at OF or even an upgrade at SS or 2B. A great season of Ernie Banks, Sammy Sosa, and Ryne Sandberg were all available. But none of them had any good teammates and it'd leave too many holes. I'm screwed. The best choice I had was going one season ahead and grabbing another Baez that can actually play SS (.281/.316/.531), a partial season of Nicholas Castellanos (.321/.356/.646) because the full season was not better than Jigger Statz, Ian Happ (.264/.333/.564, 156 PA), Brandon Kintzler (2.45, 57 IP) and Rowan Wick (2.08, 33 IP). These are just spare parts and in retrospect, maybe I should have just upgraded one position and not gone this way. Grade F

Think of the Cubs and all of their great players: 3 Finger Brown, Tinker, Evers, Chance, Ruelbach, Pfeister, Wilson, Hartnett, Warneke, Root, Banks, Santo, Williams, Jenkins, Sandberg, Sosa, Arrieta, Bryant....I HAVE NONE OF THOSE GUYS. What an absolute dumpster fire this team is. I cloned Javy Baez?? Jigger Statz is my starting CF? 123 years of Cubs history and this is what I put together?? Grade F

I literally ****** myself when I read "I cloned Javy Baez??"

Quote post by toysboys on 2/6/2024 6:01:00 PM:

Jigger Statz is my starting CF?

If I ever get a job as a data analyst for a mixology firm I am totally going to go by nickname of Jigger Statz.